[Review] Kenko 1.4x DGX Teleconverter

After a long delay (due to me being sick the last few weeks) I finally got a chance to sit down and write this up for the curious...

Everything in this review was done with my EOS 7D as well as my 70-200 f/4L IS USM lens and my 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro... and its based on shooting 740 shots in multiple situations of various subjects....So lets get this started:

Whats in the box? The teleconverter, obviously a small leatherette bag to store it in if you wish, warranty card, and an instruction sheet, as well as front and rear caps, Overall nothing to really complain about for the price, the front and rear caps are a bit "eh" feeling but they do their job well enough

Build quality is nothing to really complain about either, is it built and sealed like an L? Not really... But its not what I'd call "cheap" either, it feels plenty sturdy and theres no flexing or wobbling when I attach either lens to it and I wouldnt hesitate to put a 70-200 f/2.8L on it either, if I had to sum up the build it would be along the lines of "Built much better than you'd expect for $280!" Really cant complain about it

Optics are another area where it punches WAY above its belt, I noticed hardly any quality loss when I bolted this thing on either lens, Despite shooting wide open with the 70-200 f/4L IS which is probubly the weaker of the two lenses optically (Weaker being a RELATIVE term) Flare? Nope, check some of the images below, Im pretty sure if flare was going to rear its ugly head it would have in a couple of those where the sky was behind the bird, Contrast loss? Not really... Did it magnify CA any? Nope, Cant honestly complain about the performance its giving optically, in fact Id question if the Canon would actually be any better with my 70-200 (Since the Canon wont fit on my macro...) as I'd wager the lens is possibly the limiting factor there... Oh and the colors are just as punchy and saturated as normal

Autofocus speed seems unaffected, Which is maybe the double edged sword here, as the AF accuracy is -slightly- worse than usual, Not bad enough for me to run and start complaining about it however, but its not going to be as dead-accurate in AI Servo with the TC attached, But thats to be expected due to the light loss, I know the Canon TCs slow the AF drive down a bit, probubly to compensate for this, the Kenko does not seem to be doing this..

With the Canon 100L I did note that at macro focusing distances you can basically forget AF with this thing attached, Most likely due to light loss (Near MFD the 100L + TC is probubly around f/8 if not f/11 equivalent, So yeah, thats WAY beyond the AF systems capabilities)

The one oddity I've noted is it has a tendency to overexpose most images by 1/3-1 stop compared to the bare lens in a similar situation, Its fairly consistent in doing so however which makes it a simple thing to correct in post if you're shooting RAW, Personally I think I will let it overexpose in most instances unless im in danger of blowing out highlights because when Im shooting birds im usually at a higher ISO and pulling down a slightly OE image is vastly preferable to pushing an underexposed one(When i dialed in EC i did end up with one or two images of lighter subjects that were underexposed..id have preferred overexposure), to be honest, this really isnt a big issue and its simple to correct, and as time goes on I will learn its behavior a bit more...

Mine reported correctly with both lenses

Overall, for $280 its a fantastic value, Im not sure I can see spending twice the money for a Mark III Canon because of just how good the Kenko is (Unless i have say, the big uber-telephotos, in which case the extra money is probubly not a big issue to you) the images look practically as good as the bare lens in real usage... Its also more flexible, you can slap this on the Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro for instance (A combo which is REALLY fun) which you cannot do with the Canon TCs...

I give it a 4.5/5 and recommend it very highly to those of you in the market for a teleconverter, You get a lot of bang for $280 here and I doubt anyone would be disappointed (Just make sure you stick to putting it on a lens that already has the optics to back it up, IE, an L telephoto or any Macro lens would be great, a 55-250, Not so much)

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Heres the 8 best shots from the 70-200 f/4L IS, I will post the 5 I have from the 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro in a bit

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Nice review kenji

And now the macro shots as promised...

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …unetsukiphoto/7​423675668/

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Very good and thorough review, Kenji. How about some product shots/gear pron of the TC attached and/or by itself? When you get around to it.

Lovely samples btw.

Nice! The Kenko does a great job! Thanks for posting your review.

nice review. Thanks for sharing

Very nice review. I might have to pick one up for my 70-200 f4l once I sell off the 70-300.

I've had one for about a year now and have the same experience. I never take it off the 100-400mm.

Great review, thanks. Tried mine out yesterday for the first time on a 70-200 f/4 and I'm very happy with it.

WOW! Lovin' those macro shots, the hover and the ant/thistle are awesome!
Very nice review, I want a TC to play with pretty bad and this just made me want it more.... my wife is gonna love the idea of me spending more $$ on gear.

Thanks for posting!

Great review, I just bought the same one and I'm REALLY happy.

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

I really wanted the DGX but ended up with the MC4 because of funds, it'll be getting it's first real test drive this weekend.

I picked up the MC4 DGX ($100 cheaper than this one) for my 7D + 70-200L 2.8 IS II combo a while back and returned it immediately. It couldn't/wouldn't AF for its life on anything that remotely moved (I shoot sports). I even took it to a park with people milling about slowly and I had about a 10-20% keeper ratio. It was terrible. I've seen good reviews on this extender, so I can't really speak much to this version, but the MC4 is just garbage (unless I got a borked copy somehow).

At any rate, I ended up picking up a lightly used 1.4x II (they can still be had for $225 pretty much any day on here or elsewhere) and it performs amazingly well with my combo. AF is slowed, but IQ loss is very minimal and you don't have to stop down 3 or 4 stops to get sharp pictures like you have to do with a lot of extenders.

Just food for thought.